RSS
Did you ever wonder about the history of the Eiffel Tower?
Did you ever wonder about the history of the Eiffel Tower?
By David McClelland
We visited Paris in May as part of a two-week European vacation. We spent two days in Paris and visited the Eiffel Tower. We took an elevator to the second level. Even from that height (115 meters or 374 feet), we had a great view of Paris and surroundings.
How did the tower come to be built and when? It was created for the 1889 Centennial Exposition in Paris. The organizers held a competition for the central tower and there were three winners. Gustave Eiffel, a 53 year-old, French, civil engineer, was one winner and he was selected to build his design. The other two winners were commissioned to build other major buildings of the Exposition. The tower was actually designed by two of Eiffel's employees, Emile Nouguier and Maruice Koechlin, but Eiffel bought them out and enlisted the aid of architect, Stephen Sauvestre, to improve the visual effect of his design.
The tower was built amid a chorus of controversy and was intended to be a temporary exhibit. At 984 feet, it was the tallest building in the world for over 40 years until it was topped by the Chrysler building in New York in 1930 at 1,046 ft and 77 stories.
The Eiffel Tower was constructed of mass-produced, prefabricated iron parts and its total weight is 10,000 tons. The dimension at its base is 125 meters square or 406 square feet. There are 1,665 steps from the ground to the top, but the steps above the second level are closed to the public. The Tower was built in just over two years at a cost of 8 million francs, which was about $1.5 million US dollars in 1889. That would be about $34 million today. It took only 300 workers to complete construction. Due to the many safety precautions taken, there was but one fatality. The contractor used what was then a recent technology by installing an elevator (invented in 1853 by Elisha Otis as a freight elevator) which allowed visitors to ride up in a glass cage to see the magnificent view of Paris and about 42miles in every direction on a clear day. The Tower is repainted every 6-7 years with 10 tons of primer and 50 tons of paint. It has to be completely cleaned first. The painting is still done by hand by 25 painters with brushers and rollers. Paint guns are not allowed.
Today, the Eiffel Tower is a world icon and is a "must see" when one visits Paris. Try to visit it at least once at night where, every hour on the hour, diamond sparkling lights are displayed for five minutes from dusk until 2 a.m. It resembles a humongous fireworks display and is magnificent. The five minute display is brief, but very much worth the evening visit. I hope that I have wetted your appetite for the Eiffel Tower.
By David McClelland
We visited Paris in May as part of a two-week European vacation. We spent two days in Paris and visited the Eiffel Tower. We took an elevator to the second level. Even from that height (115 meters or 374 feet), we had a great view of Paris and surroundings.
How did the tower come to be built and when? It was created for the 1889 Centennial Exposition in Paris. The organizers held a competition for the central tower and there were three winners. Gustave Eiffel, a 53 year-old, French, civil engineer, was one winner and he was selected to build his design. The other two winners were commissioned to build other major buildings of the Exposition. The tower was actually designed by two of Eiffel's employees, Emile Nouguier and Maruice Koechlin, but Eiffel bought them out and enlisted the aid of architect, Stephen Sauvestre, to improve the visual effect of his design.
The tower was built amid a chorus of controversy and was intended to be a temporary exhibit. At 984 feet, it was the tallest building in the world for over 40 years until it was topped by the Chrysler building in New York in 1930 at 1,046 ft and 77 stories.
The Eiffel Tower was constructed of mass-produced, prefabricated iron parts and its total weight is 10,000 tons. The dimension at its base is 125 meters square or 406 square feet. There are 1,665 steps from the ground to the top, but the steps above the second level are closed to the public. The Tower was built in just over two years at a cost of 8 million francs, which was about $1.5 million US dollars in 1889. That would be about $34 million today. It took only 300 workers to complete construction. Due to the many safety precautions taken, there was but one fatality. The contractor used what was then a recent technology by installing an elevator (invented in 1853 by Elisha Otis as a freight elevator) which allowed visitors to ride up in a glass cage to see the magnificent view of Paris and about 42miles in every direction on a clear day. The Tower is repainted every 6-7 years with 10 tons of primer and 50 tons of paint. It has to be completely cleaned first. The painting is still done by hand by 25 painters with brushers and rollers. Paint guns are not allowed.
Today, the Eiffel Tower is a world icon and is a "must see" when one visits Paris. Try to visit it at least once at night where, every hour on the hour, diamond sparkling lights are displayed for five minutes from dusk until 2 a.m. It resembles a humongous fireworks display and is magnificent. The five minute display is brief, but very much worth the evening visit. I hope that I have wetted your appetite for the Eiffel Tower.
posted by David McClelland at
8:07 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home